Riding with Chris around German Bavaria

  • August 18, 2009 6:15 PM

Day 19: I knew if I didn’t get all of the EuroTrip posts up before I got home, I would slack. Luckily, there are only a couple more entries.  After Munich, one of Thomas’ coworkers took the day off and toured with us on his motorcycle around the Bavarian countryside.

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Chris on his motorcycle

We started off with some really windy roads up and down the mountains. There were a ton of motorcycles enjoying the gorgeous weather, but unfortunately we saw two that fell over in tight curves.  The switchbacks weren’t my favorite, but I really enjoyed the views, especially the lakes.

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Dallas and Thomas posed by a lake overlook

Finally, I got the guys to stop so I could dip my feet in one of the lakes. I was so tempted to just jump backwards and float, but riding in wet clothes wouldn’t have been fun. I really want to spend a week by an Austrian or German lake.

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A quick dip in a lake

Afterward, we went to the Neuschwanstein Castle which has it’s fame as being used as a model for Disney’s Cinderella castle. Unfortunately, the whole side of it was under construction, but it was quite impressive to see.  We went up to a little swinging bridge to get a great view, and then hiked up to the castle.

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Neuschwanstein Castle from the swinging bridge

It was a ton of fun touring around with Thomas’ coworker, and I hope when he comes to visit the Belgium office, we can show him around here.

I’ve now got the rest of the photos from the Budapest leg of the trip on Flickr if you’d like to see them:

Lazy Weekend

  • August 17, 2009 3:24 PM

After so much traveling, Thomas and I made a deal that we would spend our first weekend back in Brussels with no travel plans. It was a fantastic, lazy weekend. Here’s what we did…

Thomas made pancakes! He used a Barefoot Contessa mix and added a chocolate strawberry bar I got in Sweden. The first one was a dud but the others turned out okay. However, I’m starting to miss some of my nicer kitchen supplies that I left behind in storage.  I’m not sure what I was thinking…

We met Baby Reagan! While we were out of town, Ali had a baby girl and we finally got to meet her. Other than looking a little tired (understandably), Ali and Shannon seem to be falling into parenting very naturally. I was very excited to hold Reagan – she was just so sweet!

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Ali and her baby

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Such a curious little thing

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Dallas holding the baby

We biked 9 miles! Nine miles here really isn’t much, the ground is pretty flat, but I was excited to practice riding with traffic. Drivers seem to be very used to bikes here, but I would much rather prefer to stick to the sidewalks.

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Dallas on her bike

We relaxed in the park! I love laying in the grass…napping, cloud watching, soaking up the sun. We took a break from our bike ride at Parc Cinquintinaire and rested in the grass.  It was great encouragement to finish a picnic quilt before Summer is over.

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Thomas laying in the grass

We napped on the back porch! We moved our little folding bed back out onto the porch for a breezy, shady nap time place and took a little afternoon snooze.

We cooked dinner together! Since neither of us is much of a cook, we like to pool what skills we have and cook together. I made pan-fried pangasius and Thomas made mashed potatoes and salad.

There’s a few more photos from Saturday posted on Flickr:

On Sunday, Thomas drove me and my sewing machine (on his motorcycle) over to Sarah’s house so we could work on our quilts for our online quilting bee, Sew Connected 3. I’m still working on sizing up everyone’s squares so they fit together, but at least I’ve got a vision. Hopefully I’ll have some photos soon.

How was your weekend?

Munich

  • August 11, 2009 4:22 PM

Day 16-17: By the time we arrived in Munich, I was starting to realize some things about this trip — the biggest one being about our travel style. I’ve always held visiting as many countries as possible as one of my lifetime goals.  And I struggle with a feeling that if I’m living in Europe and not traveling, then I’m wasting my experience.  But I was quickly discovering that the big cities were not as exciting for me.  Part of it was tourists and crowds, part was exploring alone, and part was that I realized that I was rushing through to “collect them all.”  It’s really made me look at the other places I want to visit and see if there’s really something I want to see there, or is it just another check mark.

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Huge Beers at the Hofbrau Haus

In Munich, I didn’t really do the touristy things. The first day, I wandered around the downtown shopping area. Did you know they sell Lederhosen right there along with jeans and dress shirts? Crazy! I found a cute watch in a department store, and some used English books in an Oxfam shop. I spent probably an hour looking through a toy store – the toys were all so creative, thought-producing, and well made. There were shelves of Ostheimer wooden figurines, all kinds of construction and block building kits, boardgames I wish I could have bought, puzzles, dress up clothes, etc. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t see tons of plastic crap or toys based off of TV shows. In the afternoon, I ate lunch on the side of a fountain and people watched.  And then, I found an outdoor cafe to sip a cappuccino and read one of my new books. It was a great day!  The second day, I toured the Deutsches Museum, the German equivalent to the Smithsonian.

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Quiet Beirgarten at the Augustiner

Both nights that we were in town, Thomas’ coworkers took us to famous breweries for dinner. The first night, we went to the Hofbrau Haus, originally the Royal Brewery and now open to the public. It has been around since the 1600s and was one of the places where Hitler started holding Nazi party events. The waitresses wore bar maid outfits and a band played traditional Bavarian music. It was really loud and packed with tourists, but we had a great time. The food was delicious – pork knuckles and potato dumplings – and the drinks were huge. I tried my first radler (beer + lemonade) there. The second night, we went to the Augustiner which dates back to the 1200s. This place was much quieter and had a lovely beer garden outside.

I’ve finished editing the photos from the Prague leg of the trip and have posted them on Flickr:

Austria, the happiest place on Earth

  • August 9, 2009 8:25 AM

Day 13-15: I had a hard time posting about Austria because I didn’t know how to explain how amazing it was.  It was absolutely gorgeous – clear blue skies with fluffy clouds, rolling green hills, monstrous snow-capped mountains, and crystal clear lakes.  The air was fresh and clean and smelled like Christmas trees.

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View from a Gravel Road Wrong Turn

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Thomas at the top of Grossglockner Road

Have you been anywhere before where just breathing in the air fills you with happiness and energy?  That’s what this place felt like.  I just wanted to jump and down with excitement.

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Schloss Ort Castle across Traunsee Lake

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View from the Road

We spent three days crossing Austria.  On the first day, we rode from Budapest along the Danube River to Linz.  It was a beautiful trail filled with wine fields.  The second day started with a tour of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp, later a luge ride, and then ended with the terrifying Grossglockner High Alpine Road across the highest peak in the Austrian Alps.  The third day brought us into Munich with a couple stops to dip our toes in the roadside lakes.

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A Quick Dip in a Rest Stop Lake

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View from the Road

Thomas could have dropped me off on the side of the road anywhere along our trail and I would have been happy to stay there for a week or two.  We have both agreed that we need to come back to this area and spend more time…maybe even as a bicycle tour.  We saw a ton of families traveling around on bicycles with saddlebags and camping gear.

Quick Post with Videos

  • August 5, 2009 6:40 AM

I’m just making a quick post to share a couple more trip videos…

This first one is what it’s like to ride on the back of Thomas’ motorcycle (a BMW R1150 GS). This was shot in Austria, my favorite country we’ve driven through. It was beautiful with green hills, blue mountains, and a crystal clear river running along the road.

This next video was from one of our driving breaks in the Alps when we stopped to ride a luge. We went together two times, and this time, Thomas steered, but like on his motorbike, he was a very cautious luge driver and didn’t want to go too fast.

If those didn’t make you feel dizzy, I’ve also got the rest of the Berlin photos edited and posted on Flickr. You can check them out at:

Today, we leave Munich and wander the countryside for a couple days.  We’ve only got one more major stop at my cousin’s house at the end of this week, and then we return to Brussels.  I’ll try and catch up on the rest of my photo-a-day posts soon. :)